Death's Assistant
by lyra heart
Summary: Brigitte has spent most of her life afraid of her 'Gift'. When her Uncle dies her next guardian WANTS her to flaunt her gift and use it to HIS advantage. Death, Love and Lavender. Kroenen X OC slight X Professor Broom. Some gory bits and exploding pigs.
1. Chapter 1

West Germany 1917

_**Authors note: My first Hell Boy Fanfic so be nice please. I love Kroenen so he had to be the main character. And I fear my story isn't as good as the fantastic stories of Kroenen out there but I had to write it. Abe/Kroenen forever. Hehe.**_

_**This first chapter is the prologue to show the background of Kroenen's assistant so the before of the before Kroenen meets the OC. If you get me if you don't all will be explained later. Please read on it will get better. **_

West Germany 1917

_The five year old watched her mother chopping wood outside their tiny cottage. It was all they had left since her father had died in the war. They were struggling to survive through the particularly cold winters and food was scarce. All they had left was one pig now. _

" _Little one, Brigitte." the woman sniffed as she sat down exhausted. "Get me some water please."_

"_Yes Mama." The girl replied and put another shawl around her mother's shoulders. _

Brigitte was terrified of her mother's condition, before her father had been killed, her mother had long beautiful golden hair but now it had turned dull and her face no longer had any colour left in it.

_The little girl rushed to behind the cottage, grabbed a bucket and ran down to the little river at the bottom of the garden. She toddled back with the big bucket of water and nearly dropped it when she saw the tall men in uniform talking with her mother. _

_Hardly anyone passed by the cottage anymore it was in a dangerous area and not much could be grown. It used to be a lovely little cottage surrounded by flowers and green fields and a little wood. _

_But now the fields were not green, there were no flowers and the wood was now a threat from enemy attack. _

_Brigitte didn't understand why those men had taken her father away or why sometimes she saw loads of men walk by in lines marching. Or why sometimes she saw her mother inviting some of the men to stay the night. _

_The men's talking became shouting and Brigitte watched her mother struggle to her feet. Brigitte put the bucket down and hid behind a crate of boxes next to the cottage. Those men were really scary and she knew her mother would get rid of them she got rid of all things that were scary._

" _You can't take our food we need it to survive!" Brigitte's mother shouted. _

" The army needs all the food it can get to protect you. You ungrateful bitch." One of the men shouted.

"_I need to protect my daughter!" the woman cried. "You will not take our food."_

_Brigitte was getting angry at the way the man was upsetting her mother. She felt her little hands curl into fists and she tried to run to her mother in the belief everything would be all right if she got to her mother. _

_The tallest man enraged with the woman's unwillingness to give them her last pig hit the woman to the ground and kicked her three times with all his might. _

"_MAMA!" The little girl screamed. _

_She ran to the older woman's lifeless body and began to shake her shoulders pathetically. _

"_Mama get up." The little girl cried._

"_Great." One man said sarcastically. " Now we have another orphan to look after." _

_One of the men, a short fat man, grabbed the little girl and tried to drag her away from the lifeless body._

"_MAMA! GET UP MAMA!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs. _

"_Shut the girl up while I get the pig." The evil tall man snapped. _

"_MAMA!" Brigitte threw her head back and screamed. _

_Suddenly a bucket of water flew from nowhere and hit the tallest man. The fat man held onto the girl tighter as she tried to wriggle out of his arms. _

_The tallest man looked back and saw the little girls blue eyes had turned completely white. He gasped._

"_MAMA!" the girl screamed again._

_Suddenly the pig the man had been reaching for exploded and the blood rained down on the men covering them from head to toe. _

_The fat man dropped Brigitte trying to wipe the blood from his eyes. The little girl scrambled back to her mother and clung to her tightly. _

"_Mama, wake up. Mama." She whispered. _

_The soldiers who had wiped their faces of the blood watched terrified of the little girl. _

" _What do we do with that demon?" The tall one whispered. "I say we kill her, in the river over there."_

" _It's your fault." The short fat one barked. " And we wont kill an innocent child. You've killed her mother!" _

"_You take her then!" the third whispered. "I have a family to look after. I wont have no demon in my home."_

"_Fine!" the short one snapped and walked up to the little girl and said softly. "Darling, you'll have to come with us."_

"_Mama." she sobbed clinging onto her mother. _

"_My Name's Adalbert. What's your name?" The fat man stroked the top of her head. _

"_Brigitte. Will my Mama be ok?" she asked._

_Adalbert looked down at the blue-eyed child and felt that he was now responsible for the child. Her innocence nearly broke his heart but he would have to lie to her to get her to leave._

"_She'll be great she's only sleeping. But you have to be a good girl and come with uncle Adalbert ok? Your mama asked me to take care of you and you wouldn't want to disappoint your mama would you?" he said softly. _

_The little girl shook her head violently her long blonde curls shaking wildly. _

"_Come on then." Adalbert picked up the little girl and hissed at the tall man. "Help her mother." _

_They all knew the woman was dead even the little girl deep down knew something wasn't right. But Adalbert was nice and mama had wanted her to go with him she suppose she had too. She cuddled into the man's arms and fell asleep as the sun went down over the barren hills._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Authors Note: A short chapter the first meeting of Brigitte and Kroenen. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading. **_

May 1928

Brigitte hummed along to the cabaret music while bouncing happily after her uncle. She ignored the smoke that burned her eyes slightly and the smell of alcohol that filled the room.

Her uncle was meeting a Karl. R. Kroenen, an important man about his research. Not that his business or research interested her, she was only there for the music.

She flitted around the tables and avoided the lewd comments of men and women. The old man was surprisingly fast; sometimes she lost sight of him. In those moments her heart would skip a beat. He was the only person she had left, without him she'd be out on the streets on her **own**.

Kroenen watched the old man walk grouchily over to him. He knew the old man was repulsed by him. It was an unwanted but unavoidable meeting. The old man would help his research into the marriage of flesh and metal.

"Good evening Adalbert." Kroenen stood up and gestured for the old man to sit.

"Good evening Kroenen." The old man frowned. "May I introduce my niece Brigitte Kueper?"

Kroenen looked unkindly at the sixteen-year-old girl. She was everything he never was, attractive, graceful, and pure. He felt her cold ice blue eyes already scrutinizing him as every one did.

"Good evening, please sit." Kroenen said moodily.

Brigitte smiled politely up at the tall man. She couldn't see his face due to the tight fitting gas mask he wore. Her uncle had warned her about his strange habits and how she should ignore them. She wasn't afraid of him in fact he was quite intriguing to her.

She at next to her uncle and watched the cabaret barely hearing the men's whispers.

Some words caught her attention like girl, soon and death. The music seemed to get louder and the room was beginning to spin.

"Brigitte?" The old man asked anxiously. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, Uncle, I'm fine." She smiled tiredly.

Kroenen didn't care that much about the girl. But after speaking with her uncle he certainly couldn't miss this opportunity. Those stories of the girl had nearly been forgotten but not by occultists like him.

"Excuse us, Karl," Adalbert stood. "I think my niece is tired."

"Indeed I think I've kept you to long." Kroenen replied. "And don't worry Adalbert; everything will be like you wanted."

The old man frowned he hated that HE was his only option. But at least he knew she'd be safer with Kroenen then anyone else. Adalbert hated he had to make that arrangement but at least he could sleep in peace now.

As the wind hit her face and whipped her long blonde hair across her face, Brigitte smiled at her uncle. He frowned and led her home quickly.

"What's wrong Uncle?" she whispered.

"I'm afraid you'll be seeing more of Karl Kroenen" the old man replied sadly.

"That's fine; he's interesting I'd like to know why he wears the gas mask." The girl smiled unknowingly. "Did your business thing go well?"

"It did. My dear someday I won't be here to look after you …" The old man started.

"Don't talk like that." The girl said sharply. "Not another word like that."

Adalbert noticed stuff beginning to rattle around them. He really didn't want to upset the girl in public. He couldn't cope with having to move again.

"I'm just being a silly old fool." He laughed. "Come on."

The girl bought it and walked happily next to him. He wished he could tell her. How and why he had done it. But she wouldn't know not even after he died. She would have to live with HIM after he'd died. He'd made Kroenen her guardian.

He just prayed she'd forgive him.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: This chapter is basically Brigitte finding out Kroenen is her guardian. And it also makes a connection with Professor Broom although he's not mentioned in this chapter. If you think i've done something wrong please tell me so i can improve. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter :)_**

June 1928

The wind blew Brigitte's blonde hair into her face as she knelt by her little flowerbed. She was worrying about uncle Adalbert he was acting very strange. He had spent the last few days in bed.

"Good evening Miss Kueper." A deep voice said from behind.

Brigitte looked up and sighed when she saw Kroenen. She had been hoping it was someone with news from the university in England. They had sent someone over to investigate her gift, to find out why it happened.

"Have I disappointed you?" Kroenen asked coolly.

"Oh no, no, it's just I was expecting someone with important news." Brigitte blushed. " Sorry I didn't mean to sound rude."

Kroenen helped the girl to her feet. She was blushing brightly. She had led a very sheltered life; she hardly met any other man. Apart from Adalbert's old fat friends.

But Kroenen was very toned and mysterious, even if she couldn't see his face.

" I hear your Uncle is sick." He said indifferently.

"It's just a bad stomach." Brigitte replied following him into the house.

"What will you do though if it's the worst?" Kroenen asked without looking at her.

"He'll get better." Brigitte replied politely.

"What if he dies, Brigitte?" Kroenen turned to her.

"He'll get better." She hissed.

"But what if he doesn't." Kroenen moved closer to the girl.

Pots and pans in the large kitchen began to shake violently. The old cook turned to Brigitte terrified of the girl. Suddenly a plate flew across the room and smashed against the wall. Kroenen smiled behind his mask.

Brigitte looked from the cook to Kroenen helplessly. Her 'Gift' scared her and now Kroenen knew, she could tell. She turned away from Kroenen, tears filled her eyes and she ran.

Up the creaky stairs and through the old corridors, she kept running until she reached Adalbert.

"He knows about me uncle." Brigitte cried as she sat next to her uncle. "I didn't mean to he pushed me to it."

"Who?" Adalbert wheezed.

"Karl Kroenen." She smiled sadly. "I nearly hit him with a plate."

Adalbert sighed and sat up.

" You know I wont be around long…." He raised a hand to silence her protest. " So I made a decision. When I die you'll go …"

"To England? To university to find out why?" she asked hopefully.

"No." Adalbert frowned. "You'll live with your new guardian until your old enough..."

"But…who's my guardian?" Brigitte asked confused.

"Hello again Brigitte." Kroenen said from the door.

Brigitte glared at Kroenen and turned to her uncle angrily.

"Him?" she asked crossly.

Adalbert nodded sadly and Brigitte jumped up.

"He'll look after you and… help you with your gift." Adalbert wheezed.

Brigitte turned away from Adalbert.

"No!" she yelled as she pushed past Kroenen and stormed out of the room.

"Sorry about that outburst Kroenen she's… Just upset." Adalbert laid back.

"Understandable." Kroenen said indifferently.

"She's normally so quiet." Adalbert muttered.

" Now if we could talk business." Kroenen replied coolly.

Brigitte sat alone in the garden thinking about Kroenen. What was life with him going to be like? No she wouldn't let it happen. Anyway Adalbert wasn't that sick he wouldn't die yet.

Sighing she rolled onto her front and picked some daisies. How long would that old professor take? She wanted to know why she had this scary gift, and how to control it. A shadow blocked the sunlight, Brigitte groaned knowing who it was.

"You'll ruin your dress." Kroenen said uncaringly. "Rolling about on the grass."

" Thank you, but I didn't want your advice." Brigitte replied coldly. " Anyway why do you care?"

" Who said I do?" He said icily. "But remember who's going to look after you when your uncle dies."

"Ok." She got up.

"Goodbye Miss Kueper." Kroenen turned away.

Kroenen was about to walk away when suddenly the girl rushed to him and held his hand tightly.

" please, call me Brigitte.I'm sorry for being so harsh to you. I hope we see you soon." She said softly. "Bye."

He wasn't sure if she was mocking him or actually taking in his threat. But when she looked up into his mask her eyes, he thought, could see straight through the mask. He shivered uncomfortably leaving quickly not looking back at the girl.

That night sitting in his study Kroenen kept going over things in his mind. This girl, no matter how annoying she was, was an asset to his studies. He'd make her polite and maybe even gain her trust and willingness. He'd just have to keep thinking how good things would be after he finished his research.

Anyway it still might be years before that old man died. But until then at least he could start with the girl and she couldn't argue with him. And if she did argue, whether her uncle was alive or not, Kroenen would win.


	4. Chapter 4

September 1928

The wind was cool against Brigitte's face as she leaned out of her window. Kroenen had been making her use her powers to his own purpose, for example, keeping a cat with clockwork heart alive with her mind. It was poor cat never lasted more than a few minutes and then…well it's hard to keep your mind on a cat constantly. It had made Brigitte cry every time a new dead cat would be placed in front of her.

Kroenen didn't get mad with her like she thought he would have the first time she had lost concentration. He just kept her trying, making her use all her energy until she collapsed.

What really upset Brigitte was that he didn't even care if she was to exhausted. It just kept going and she couldn't do anything about was excellent at working out what he could use against her especially her uncle. Kroenen kept them at bay as long as she helped him.

"Are you ready Brigitte?" Kroenen said impassively from the doorway.

Brigitte wiped her eyes quickly and turned around happily to her 'Guardian'.

"Yes Kroenen." She said energetically.

She had learnt very quickly to seem enthusiastic in Kroenen's experiments.

"Come." He muttered darkly.

Kroenen over the past few months wanted an assistant to help with his experiments. She was perfect for it, if a little unwilling. He had to admit her constant …distractions and attachments to the experiments were irritating. But oddly he didn't notice or didn't want to notice her lack of enthusiasm sometimes.

Brigitte hated Kroenen's ability to make everything seem less important then his work, but she was also in awe of him on days they weren't arguing. But his lack of empathy and humanity made her frightened of him. Sometimes he scared her so much she'd lock herself in her room all night.

They sat in the study reading about the occult and talking about how to keep a cat alive for longer. For sometime they were both lost in conversation. She found it oddly strange how much they could talk about the occult.

"Let me show you something." Kroenen stood and walked to a thing covered in purple velvet cloth.

He pulled the cloth off revealing a tiny clockwork nightingale. It was a real nightingale's body fused with metal. It was so small and yet it had the most normal body and yet half was still metal, even one of it's eyes was a metal orb.

" Fusing the body with metal creates perfection." He said proudly winding it up. " This is my early work."

Brigitte looked up at him and was sure that behind that mask he was smiling. The bird came to life and started to sing. It was lovely, and Brigitte was sure she it was singing a tune made by humans.

"Wagner." Kroenen answered as if knowing her question. " He can sing a only one Wagner piece perfectly, and only for a few moments. I am trying to perfect it though."

He threw the cloth back over the cage and sat down opposite her.

"What do you think?" Kroenen asked forcefully.

"It was…lovely." Brigitte said amazed. "Tristan und Isolde?"

Kroenen nodded his masked head slightly.

" That is incredible…how?" Brigitte said in awe.

" Mechanics, metal but I still need to make it perfect. To have clockwork that doesn't need winding up." He replied looking through a book. "I just can't do it without …something. I don't know what it is yet!"

Suddenly he flung the book across the room and buried his masked face into his hands. Brigitte shivered and looked away. He could change his temperament in a matter of seconds it unnerved her.

" I don't know, I just want things to be perfect." He muttered.

"Kroenen?" Brigitte reached to touch his hand.

"Don't. Touch me." He hissed grabbing her left wrist tightly.

"I …" Brigitte tried to pull free of his vice like grip. " Let go of me."

He tightened his grip even more.

"Ouch! stop it." Brigitte said angrily.

He tightened his grip even harder that she felt like her wrist was going to snap.

Her eyes began to water and she felt the rage build up in side her. A silver letter opener suddenly flew into her right hand.

"Let go!" she cried plunging the letter opener into his arm.

He hissed but it was more in pleasure than in pain.

Brigitte looked at him in bafflement as he pulled the blade out of his arm. He held it for a moment stroking it gently. Then turned to Brigitte.

"Excellent." He moaned gently. "Your turn."

He grabbed her arm, more gently than before, and ran it sharply across the top of her wrist.

She cried out in pain, tears trickled down her face.

"There, there." He whispered wiping her cheek delicately. "You'll learn to enjoy it."

Brigitte stared at him in confusion tearing her arm away from him. Gently she rolled down her the sleeve of her cream dress to cover the cut. She turned about to rush from the room when he grabbed her wrist again suddenly.

"You're here to help me, Brigitte, like an assistant, you will always be at my side but you will never be more or less than a tool to me." Kroenen stood up. "That's enough for today."

Brusquely he left the room leaving Brigitte to hold onto her arm. Blood seeped through her sleeve, leaving a stain of red on the cream cloth. Moving to the window she sat in Kroenen's chair, watching people on the street go by and cried silently.

**AN: Sorry it's taken me ages to write again. I can't explain how the bird can sing Wagner, obviously not sing but chirp, but hey why not. I am also trying to keep Kroenen as balanced as possible between a deadly masochistic assassin and an educated cultural man, a balance between film and comic although leaning more towards the film. Hope you enjoy and I promise not to take so long next time haha. Thanks for reading. **


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